This is my yappy place. Sometimes I share my workshop experiences in jewelry-making; sometimes I talk about other things that interest me. I have created tabs along the top of my blog (next to the word home, below this msg) so you can select certain categories if you like.

I totally have to see it again… the baby penguins are cuter than anything I’ve seen in ages. Watching the hungry polar bear was very sad and I was rooting for him to get one of the walruses. :-(

HARD-WIRED NURTURERS

And speaking of cute, that got me to wondering how much Gabe’s experience of the Aquarium (and other things too) differed from my experience.

If I see something “cute”, I have a fondness for it. It makes me feel happy. But I think women are hard-wired for that.

And I don’t mean “hard-wired” as in genetics… I mean “hard-wired” as in primal instincts.

Human newborns aren’t able to fend for themselves, and they don’t do much to endear themselves to us (they cry, they poop, they don’t help in the slightest, etc). So… nature instilled in us a primal instinct to adore them in a nearly foolproof way. Women (mostly) were given the ability to get all mushy over infants (this carries over into infants of almost all species).

So I would say getting “mushy” over cute things is a survival instinct… keeps our infants cared for and helps keep the species surviving.

I speak in generalizations, but have no current doubt that this “thing” most people and almost ALL women feel for babies is a hard-wired survival instinct and not something we learned from our environment.

Thought for today: Activate your ocytocin!

So, I will quit saying to any man, “Oh c’mon, how can you not think that is the cutest thing ever!? Doesn’t is just melt your heart?!” I will try to remember that we each see the world differently and we each react to the world differently. Some of these differences can be learned and some can be hard-wired. But don’t assume that everyone sees/feels what I see/feel.

NEW JEWELRY

Aside from the one that sold and the one that isn’t made into a bracelet yet, I do have a few other new listings.

Click any photo for more info:

I put up some colorful gemstone pendant necklaces (that are already selling quickly)…

Oh, don’t forget that last batch of one-penny auctions I listed ends tomorrow!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Yesterday, Monica and I practiced our new skill of metal etching. We are still a few supplies short for some of the methods, but we were still able to work on the basics.

I realize now that I need to work more on “planning”. This isn’t like beading where I could just let the moment guide me.

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH…

When it comes to seller/customer communication?

Should a seller send an email when the sale happens… then another when the item is shipped… then another to ask if the item’s been received?

I used to do hardly ANY communication, but after reading some forum threads, I realized how lame that was… but recently I read (again on a forum) a sarcastic post about sellers who contact you through every step of the transaction and how annoying that is.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Since I’ve been gone I:
Took a class in metal-etching
Shopped at BABE (Bay Area Bead Extravaganza)
Had a partial Matrixectomy with chemical burn
Decided never to do that again because it’s week #3 and I’m still in a lot of baby-wa-wa pain
Had a mammogram (negative)
Had a mole biopsy (negative)
Had some lab work (blood sugar levels and cholesterol all okay)
Found out I have allergies (to like dust and pollution) that affect my sinuses (not a surprise)
And lots more stuff that ate up my days

But I finally have a few new listings, including some of my new-learned techniques (metal etching and Viking knit).

The other etched metal necklace I listed already sold… yay!

Monica and I look forward to our first experiments with metal etching (outside of the classroom) this weekend.

Did I show you my first riveting attempts?

Oh yeah, I think I showed that to you when it was still on my work bench.

The other night at Monica’s practice I made a charm bracelet (listing soon) and some tri- and quad-gemstone necklaces. Then I tried to learn a new chain maille pattern. It turned out okay and I will have another bracelet to list soon… I’m thinking, however, of making it a “change-a-bead” kind of bracelet.

Monica’s at work at the moment and Gabe’s team plays in half an hour… I should be able to watch it live, but we’ll see… last weekend they had technical difficulties.
Tomorrow, I’ll ship orders in the morning then take Mon to her community service work… then it’s a game in Fremont and a post-game potluck.

Sunday will be for METAL ETCHING! Whoohoo!!! Monica’s dying to try out her idea.

I wrote three different blog entries comparing the purchase of knock-off Gucci/Tiffany/Rolex to knock-off beads and jewelry. Decided to delete my post. :-)

Question: How many women with MENOPAUSE does it take to change a light bulb?

Woman's Answer: One!

ONLY ONE!!!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out.

And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the #&%!* light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 17 YEARS!

But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find them, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE FREAKING LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER PICKS UP OR CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL!!!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

So I played with rivets and continued my exploration of Viking knit (now working on necklace length, sterling silver, double knit).

But around noon today I realized I don’t want to spend time LOOKING for things so I’m calling it quits for creating today and moving on to organizing. Going to spend a couple hours putting things into their proper place so that when I want to see what I’ve got to work with, I’ll know.

BTW, that photo I showed you last month… of my work place… well, that’s what it looks like during the week. Here’s what it looks like on the weekends when I’m actually USING the space.

I would, however, like to at least take photos tonight of the new stuff to list.

CATCHING UP

I think I’m in possession of some photos that I’ve not yet shared.

Here’s a pic of the 19U team with their championship trophy. This was the Ohio tournament Mon went to in September. Mon is the one on the far right.

Same tournament…

Oh… here are some more photos from Gabe’s Close-Up trip (to Washington and New York). I’ll eventually add them in to the other photo area where I have Gabe’s other pix of that trip.